Leon Jackson

Leon Jackson (born 30 December 1988) is a Scottish singer and winner of the fourth series of the British television talent show The X Factor in 2007. His debut single, "When You Believe", was released in December 2007, and was the UK Christmas number 1 single that year. Following a ten-month hiatus, his debut album Right Now was released in October 2008.

Biography

Early life

Leon Jackson was born in Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland, and has lived there with his mother Wendy all his life.^[1] Before pursuing his singing career, Jackson worked as a retail sales assistant with Gap for a number of years.^[2] Jackson only started singing in 2007 when his friends entered him into a karaoke competition, which he won.^[3]^[2] Jackson said that singing was the only thing that made him happy. He was a huge fan of contemporary jazz, his hero being Michael Bublé.^[3] Before he made it through to the finals of The X Factor, Jackson had been planning to start an architectural technology course at Napier University.^[3] Leon had not lived with his father Phillip since the age of two: Philip died in 2005 from a severe case of pneumonia.

In October 2008. Leon announced that he was dating "Hope" singer Emily Biggs. The pair liked each other during the X Factor and grew very close. Leon said he'd "always thought Emily was pretty". She lives not far from him in London where he shares a flat with fellow contestant and friend Andy Williams.

2007: The X Factor

In 2007, Leon Jackson auditioned for the fourth series of The X Factor in Glasgow. He made it through to the final stages and was announced the winner on 15 December 2007, winning a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music/Sony BMG.^[4] He was mentored by Dannii Minogue.^[4] In the final, he performed a duet with Kylie Minogue of "Better the Devil You Know".^[4] Jackson was an outsider to win the competition, and his victory was described as "the biggest shock in the history of reality TV betting."^[5] ITV have confirmed that Jackson won on the night of the final by around 10% of the popular vote.^[6] A number of viewers complained to watchdog Ofcom that they were unable to get through to vote for Jackson's rival Rhydian Roberts, but an Ofcom investigation found that Roberts had not been unfairly disadvantaged.^[7]^[8]

Michael Bublé

In December 2007, Leon Jackson performed with Canadian performer Michael Bublé at Wembley Arena, singing Bublé's "Home". Jackson said this was the highlight of his life as Bublé is his idol.^[9] This invitation was repeated in July 2008 when Michael Bublé invited Leon on stage at the Glasgow SECC to sing Lost together.

2008: Right Now

Simon Cowell stated that Jackson's debut album would not be rushed out, following the worldwide success of previous X Factor winner Leona Lewis's debut album Spirit, which was released 11 months after Lewis won series 3 of the show.

X Factor Live Tour

On 11 February 2008, Jackson began the X Factor Live tour in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland with other acts from the 2007 show. He continued the tour in other venues around the UK until 21 March where the tour finished at London's Wembley Arena, thus concluding The X Factor 2007.

In September 2008, whilst attending the London premiere of Guy Ritchie film RocknRolla, Jackson revealed he is hooked on the 2008 series of The X Factor, saying: "It's like a trip down memory lane and I sit there in my pyjamas watching it."^[10]

Don't Call this Love

The follow up single to When You Believe was "Don't Call This Love". The song is a cover version of a song which the Swiss singer Stefanie Heinzmann presented on her debut album Masterplan. He performed his new single "Don't Call This Love" on 11 October 2008 on an X Factor Live Show. It charted at number 3 in the UK singles chart. Jackson revealed on his official website that the album would be called Right Now and was released on October 20, 2008. The album debuted at number 4 on the UK Album Chart.

The second single from Leon's debut album is to be Creative, as announced on Children In Need 2008. He then went on to perform the song. The single peaked on Itunes at no 32 as an album track a release date for the single is still unknown.^{[citation needed]}

Discography

Studio albums

2008 – Right Now

References

^ "X-Factor Leon has singing in his genes". The Scotsman. 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2007-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ ^a ^b "Karaoke Changed X Factor Leon's Life". Sunday Mail. 2007-11-25. Retrieved 2007-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c "Student life goes pop for X Factor favourite". The Scotsman. 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2007-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c "Leon Jackson wins X Factor final". Daily Telegraph. 2007-12-15. Retrieved 2007-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Leon Jackson takes X Factor crown". BBC News. 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2007-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ "Walsh defends The X Factor result". The Guardian. 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin, Issue number 108, 8 May 2008" (PDF).
^ "Digital Spy: Leon's 'X Factor' win was genuine".
^ "Dream for Leon as he sings with hero". Edinburgh Evening News. 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2007-12-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ Leon Jackson's X Factor pyjama party - Tellyzone

External links

Preceded by Leona Lewis	Winner of The X Factor 2007	Succeeded by Alexandra Burke

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[1] "X-Factor Leon has singing in his genes". The Scotsman. 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2007-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[karaoke-2] "Karaoke Changed X Factor Leon's Life". Sunday Mail. 2007-11-25. Retrieved 2007-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[studentlife-3] "Student life goes pop for X Factor favourite". The Scotsman. 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2007-12-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[wins-4] "Leon Jackson wins X Factor final". Daily Telegraph. 2007-12-15. Retrieved 2007-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[5] "Leon Jackson takes X Factor crown". BBC News. 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2007-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[6] "Walsh defends The X Factor result". The Guardian. 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[7] "Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin, Issue number 108, 8 May 2008" (PDF).

[8] "Digital Spy: Leon's 'X Factor' win was genuine".

[9] "Dream for Leon as he sings with hero". Edinburgh Evening News. 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2007-12-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[10] Leon Jackson's X Factor pyjama party - Tellyzone

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